Courtesy photo

Hanging Flume reconstruction begins Wednesday
By Ellen Metrick, Editor
Published: Tuesday, April 3, 2012 11:29 PM CDT

Workers on reconnaissance, rappelling from Hwy. 141, above the San Miguel River, to mark the 48 feet of the Hanging Flume to be reconstructed in a grand event next week. “You might call it historic reenactment, except that no one is completely certain the construction methods that will be employed to restore 48 feet of the Hanging Flume are historically accurate. Nonetheless, the feats that workers will undertake on a short stretch of the crumbling 10-mile long hydraulic wonder, built in 1889 above the San Miguel and Dolores rivers, promise to be stunning and hope to be successful.

“This is very exciting,” said Chris Miller, the executive director of the Western Colorado Interpretive Association (WCIA). “It’s the culmination of 10 years of research.”

Neon green tags marking the stretch of flume to be restored are already visible on the canyon wall above the San Miguel River, just upstream from its confluence with the Dolores. Workers rappelled down the cliffs from Hwy. 141 to place them one month ago, preparing for next week’s event.”  READ FULL ARTICLE > Telluride Daily Planet > Norwood Post > News